Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1887-12-01
POWDERLY TO RESIGN.
Sick at Heart aud Weary OF Hearing u
Curses OF Anarchist knights.

"
Curses OF Anarchist knights.
General Master Workman Powderly, in
response to a request from prominent
knight of indianapolis, Ind. urging him
TO reconsider his determination to retire
from the leadership of the order, has writ
ten a letter of which the following is the
substance
You ask me To reconsider my determine
ton to retire from the head of the order
after the next session. do not see how 1
can consistently do so, and il would be
unfair to ask me TO retain Il position which
do not want and which | am confident
another man can fill with better advan-
tage TO the order at large. During the
past We Il | re eived thousands of commu-
ncatiuns from in iividuas, Ii Is true, In
which was abused. condemned and asked
to resign. Papers were full Of abuse;
threats OF impeachment were made and
threats of withdrawal from the order were
freely INDUCED i'm. Through this cloud
of gloom bat one ray of light made its
way, and that came from far away Den
yer, where ID. A. 81 passed those ringing
resolutions ind0rsng my course and tOl-
demning TIE anarchist element which
sought to prostitute the order to its own
baseness. ] then felt that the order
would stand more cheerfully by some 9TH
er man than it would stand by me. True.
| have ne er had cause to find fault with
the OF cial treatment | have received, but
when blows all thick and fast friendly
intercessiOn now and then cheers the per-
son OH whose head the blows are falling.
| | believe the best service that can render
to the order is to step aside and allow
some other member to do work am try
| ing to do.
have devoted years to the cause of
labor. My life in the services of humani-
| ty has been the one constant fight by
night and cay against the enemies of
| labor and the element of discOrd, which
opposed me from within and without. Such
| life has been a most exciting one, and
has left me with legacy which | can
never part with in the shape of heart
| trouble that may do its work at anymOment.
[ could not make slch a sub'e t a matter
| for discussion in any annual message or
before the general assembly. Personal
| interests. social ties and the comforts of
| home have been things of the past with
me for years. long to be once more a
free man, for to-day am bound by ties
most inestimable and ruled over by not
one but by 10000 masters. You can
| never know the strain under which | have
| lived for years. Ii would not be becoming
| for me to speak o. the financial sacrifice
have made for the order, and am free to
say that would be willing to make such
| a sacrifice again, either by health. wealth
| or comfort for the order of knights OF
labor have for eight years. as general
| master workman, triei As hOEe ,tly as
knew how to better the condition of my
| fellow man by helping to build up an Or
ganiyaton through which they would be
protected in their rights. That organi-
zatiOn is built but profane hands have
been laid upon it, and the men who
gathered in Chicago and gave out that
hostile declaration to the world did so
only because anarchy could not rule the
order. do not charge all those who at
tended the meeting in Chicago with being
anarchists, but | claim that a vast IN ajori-
ty of them did not represent tn cir c0nsti-
tupncieS